Two Hunger Strikers Risk Life, Al Jihad threatens ’’Israel’’: Palestine
After 63 days on hunger-strike, two Palestinian prisoners face severe health deterioration and are at risk of death.
Bilal Diab, 27, from Jenin, and Thaer Halahla, 33, from al-Khalil, have been transferred to an "Israeli" hospital in a serious condition.
"In the "Israeli" prisons, hunger is the only weapon ... my brother is defending not just his own rights and honor, but those of the whole Palestinian people," said Bassam Diab, a former detainee and brother of jailed hunger strikers Bilal and Azzam Diab.
From the family's modest home in the northern village of Kufr Rai, Diab stressed that "in the Zionist prisons, there are no factions, we're just flesh. God willing this will lead to a unified, national movement."
According to their lawyer Jamal Khatib, "Israel's" Supreme Court will hear their case on Thursday, after an appeal against their administrative detention was rejected by an "Israeli" military court last week.
Meanwhile, the "Israeli" prison's authorities launched negotiations with the hunger striking prisoners. However, Khatib said that he has received no response to his demand that the administrative detention prisoners are freed immediately.
In parallel, the Palestinian resistance Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib confirmed Tuesday that "the group will break a truce with "Israel" if any of the hunger-strikers dies."
"If any of the Mujahedeen (resistance fighters) die, the truce will be gone with the wind and the enemy will bear the results of what could happen," Habib said at a press conference in Gaza City.
Eight other hunger-strikers have been transferred to hospital, including the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmad Saadat.
For his part, Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society Qadura Fares considered that "the situation is catastrophic."
He further appealed for the prisoners immediate release.
Similarly, lawyers warned that "Israeli" authorities are now reluctant to compromise since the Palestinian prisoners' mass strike risks "Israel's" detention policy as a whole.
The hunger-strikes began in protest of "Israel's" policy of administrative detention -- under which around 320 Palestinians are currently held without charge for renewable terms without charge.
The mass strike also protests "Israel's" treatment of Palestinian prisoners, in particular the use of solitary confinement and ban on family visits for prisoners from the Gaza Strip.
Source: Maan, Edited by moqawama.org
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